This groundbreaking combined heat and power (CHP) project is the first of its kind and will start commissioning during the Summer of 2012. Commercial operation is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2013.

All materials used in the process are from sustainable sources; malt whisky distillery residues from a number of local distilleries and wood fuel from the locality. Ash produced in the boiler can also be used as a fertilizer.

The 7.2MWe plant will produce enough electricity for around 9,000 homes and will be exported to the local electricity network. It will save around 46,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year compared to a similarly sized coal-fired facility.

Significant savings will also be made in CO2 emissions as a consequence of ceasing the current distillery practice of using natural gas to process draff and pot ale.

Through construction the project will create 200 jobs and will give rise to over 20 permanent jobs when it goes into commissioning in late 2012.

The project has already won a number of prestigious awards, including the Transaction of the Year Award at the Renewable Energy Infrastructure Awards 2011 and the Best Environmental Initiative at the Scottish Green Energy Awards in December 2008.

Helius CoRDe Limited is a joint venture company between Helius Energy plc, The Combination of Rothes Distillers Limited and Rabo Project Equity B.V. to develop, build, own and operate the biomass CHP project.